EQC's $3m staff bonuses questioned

A parliamentary select committee has been told the Earthquake Commission (EQC) paid out over $3 million in bonuses to staff while dealing with the Canterbury earthquakes.

The Auditor-General has today been reporting to Parliament's Finance and Expenditure Select Committee on its follow-up report into EQC's management of the Canterbury Home Repair programme.

At the hearing, David Press - the senior performance auditor at the Auditor-General's office - was questioned about why the commission had handed out almost $3.3m in bonuses to staff.

"We haven't looked at employment practices as part of our follow-up report. I think it's a question that's worth directing towards EQC in terms of their human resource practices and why that's been necessary."

Mr Press also told the committee EQC could improve how they learn from customer complaints.